Kindness Comes in Strange Packages
by The Thinker29
Summary: When Judy and Nick are patrolling on what seems to be an average day, the last thing they expect to encounter is a young criminal. Especially one that looks so strange. However, there is more to this creature that meets the eye. Will Judy and Nick be able to help this creature, while also trying to figure out their own relationship? JudyXNick, OC. M for some violence and fluff.
1. Prologue

**Hello everybody, thanks for deciding to check this story out! As a first time writer, I'm sure to make quite a few mistakes. However, I will hopefully get better with time. As it is, here is a short prologue to introduce my OC. A quick mention of how I will write, any text** _ **like so**_ **indicates thoughts of one of the characters, and quotation marks will indicate actual spoken words. This might sound stupid of me to explain, but I prefer to make sure that there is as little chance for misunderstanding as possible. Understand that this will contain some content that is considered scary and dark, so if you don't like it then don't read. I do not own Zootopia or any of its ideas, concepts, or characters, as those belong to Disney. Now that my long winded monologue is over, on with the prologue!**

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 _Pain… It hurts so much….. Why does everything hurt so much….. And what is on me that's so heavy….?_

Slowly the small creature awakens, pain scorching through his young body. He sluggishly tires to move, but is pinned down by the weight on top of him. As he finally opens his eyes fully, he registers shock and horror at what was pressing so heavily on his body.

 _M-mom….. D-dad…_ The creature is frozen in fear as he stares at the faces of his parents, only a few inches from his own. Their eyes are glazed over in death, and yet they still somehow retained their last feelings of love for their son as they had tried to protect him. The creature quickly recovers from his shock and begins to struggle in panic, eventually managing to remove himself from beneath his parents' corpses. As he stared in shock at them, memories began to drift back to him. Memories of a beautiful day, the appearance of strangers, and then the horror that they unleashed.

As the memories continue to flow back to the boy, he notices the smell of smoke. He rises slowly from where he had been laying and shakily begins to walk to the front of the house.

 _My house….. This is my house….._ The memory slips through as he walk towards the front door. As he reaches for the door knob to leave, he happens to look to the side and stops. There by the entryway is a small table and coat hanger, undisturbed and at odds with the chaos that surrounded him. On the table is a picture of himself, smiling and being held by his equally happy parents. The coat hanger had a single jacket, one that the creature recognized as his father's favorite.

In the brief moment of time that the boy stared at these things, he was filled with sadness. He reached out and put on his father's coat, encompassed in it as if it was a robe due to its huge size compared to himself. Then he reached out and gently slipped the picture out of the frame, stared at it one last time, and put it in his oversized jacket pocket. As he took one last look at his home, he turned the door knob and opened the door, leaving his home for the last time.

As he slowly walked outside, the image of what he saw would be imprinted in his mind for the rest of his life. He and his family had lived slightly apart from the rest of the town, at the top of a small hill that gave a perfect view of the town. But as the boy walked out of his house and looked down on his home, there was nothing perfect to be seen. As the stench of death filled his nose and smoke burned his eyes, the boy looked out and saw his town burn.

Almost every building was burning, and the fire quickly spread to what was left. Everything that the boy held precious was being destroyed before his very eyes. The boy could barely see a mound in the center of the town, and realized in horror that is was a mound of corpses.

As the boy watched his world literally burn down around him, he thought back to the person responsible. The stranger who came to his town, acted so warm and friendly, then turned on his town. He remembered the cries of fear he had heard, and the name that had been chanted by the stranger's goons as they destroyed everything.

As the boy looked out, he finally spoke. He whispered a single word, the last word he would ever speak for four years. He whispered the name of the one who had taken his world away in the blink of an eye.

"Discord…"

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 **Well that's it. Sorry for the horrifying backstory, and the actually lack of details about my OC, but I wanted to make sure that he would have a good reason for being the way he is later in the story. I plan on attempting to write the actual first chapter as soon as possible, but I'm actually not sure what I want to do. I want to introduce Judy and Nick next, of course, but I'm not sure on what the situation will be, or how they will meet my OC. So hooray for blindly writing!**

 **I would like to mention something real fast (or possibly slow, who knows?). I had the idea for the antagonist of this story for a good while and how he would ruin my OC's life, but I had a hard time choosing a name. Then as I was listening to music one day, I happened to hear a song by The Living Tombstone and Mush. The song's name was Discord, and as I listened I suddenly heard the key line, "Discord, whatever did we do, to make you take the world away?" That line practically chose the name for me, perfect for the character. So thanks to The Living Tombstone and Mush, for giving me perfect inspiration for a sick and twisted antagonist.**

 **Since I'm a first time writer and this is my first story, please leave as many reviews as you want! I'm open to criticism and those who want to point my mistakes out so I can correct them are greatly appreciated. I'm also open to other people's ideas and suggestions for future chapters, as I honestly have no idea what I'm doing! If you have anything you wish to discuss with me, feel free to PM me.**

 **On that note, I will leave you with this final message. In regards to what will happen in the future for my OC, I will have to borrow from the great British writer Terry Pratchet and his Diskworld series. To borrow one of his famous lines, "There will be a reckoning."**


	2. Chapter 1 A Peaceful Day

**Hello everybody! First things first, I need to give a huge shout out to my awesome best friend who wishes to be known as Drae. She helped me to flesh out everything from the entirety of my OC's physical description and personality to the whos, whats, whens, wheres, and whys of this chapter. Without her, I would literally still be trying to come up with a name for my OC, and not realizing that it's important to be so detailed in your own perception of your character that you know if he has thick or thin eyebrows. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you continue to help me put some kind of order to the insanity in my mind.**

 **Now that I've properly praised my savior, let's get this show on the road. Allons-y!**

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4 years later

It is another beautiful day in the city of Zootopia. Polar bears and caribou are taking the ice floats to work in Tundratown, hares and carcals are selling exotic foods and souvenirs in the bazaars of Sahara Square, and tigers and lemurs are taking the sky trams to their homes in Rainforest District. In Savanna Central, mammals of all species are chatting, playing, working, or just simply enjoying the day. A group of gerbils in suits are rapidly discussing a business deal, a herd of antelope are practicing yoga in the park, and a tiger cub plays soccer with a young deer. It's the perfect picture of peace.

"Ugghh…" Nick groaned as he and Judy walked along a busy street in a rural part of Savanna Central. "Why did Bogo give us patrol duty? Surely there is something more important to do than watching random people walk around." Nick glanced down at his partner, completely indifferent to the beauty of the day.

"Oh come on Nick, you know that going on patrol is important." Judy's ears twitched in annoyance as she tried to get Nick to be more enthusiastic. Nick just rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. "Sure it is, carrots. After all, those jaywalkers aren't going to catch themselves." Judy crossed her arms and huffed, quickly alerting Nick to her rising annoyance and causing him to look up from his phone. "Why are you being so negative today? You didn't complain about patrol duty before."

Nick sighed and stopped, causing Judy come to a halt as well. "Sorry carrots. I've just been a bit bored. It's been nine months since the nighthowler case, and since then the only thing we've done is gone on patrols." Judy's annoyance almost instantly evaporated after hearing Nick's apology. Judy had actually been feeling a bit bored as well, as the monotony of the patrols had been wiping away the excitement of solving their last case.

"I've been feeling the same way Nick, but we should take it as a positive. It means that things in Zootopia are becoming more peaceful." Judy touched Nick's arm at this point in an attempt to console him, but instead caused him to blush slightly. Nick looked away in an attempt to hide it, confusing the bunny and causing her to drop her arm back to her side. "I guess, I just wish something more exciting would happen." Nick muttered as he did his best to maintain his cool. _And I wish you wouldn't just do things like that without thinking, carrots…_ Nick's feelings for the bunny had been slowly growing over the months since the nighthowler case, but he could never admit it to his partner. After all, what if she didn't feel the same? It would destroy the friendship he had with her, and that would tear him apart. And besides that, Nick was still a fox and Judy was still a rabbit. How would people see a predator/prey relationship? _Better to act like nothing is wrong and keep her friendship than to tell the truth and lose her…_

"Nick, Nick, NICK!" Judy jumped up and shouted in his ear, startling him out of his thoughts. "W-what?" Nick did his best to hide his surprise, quickly assuming a disinterested look. "Sorry, but you were off in your own little world." Judy said apologetically as she gave Nick a concerned look. "Are you sure you're ok?" Nick gave her a small smile as he looked at her with half-lidded eyes. "Of course I am, carrots. Would I lie to you? Judy smirked and punched Nick lightly in the arm. "Dumb fox." Nick just smiled back, relieved that Judy was no longer suspicious of him. "Sly bunny. Now, what were you saying that was so important?" Judy smiled, happy that she seemed to have snapped her partner out of his negative mood. "All I was saying was that there is no point in moaning about how peaceful it is. After all, it's not like a criminal is just going to run out and commit a crime in front of us."

"THIEF!" The shout came from a middle-aged ram who came running out of a grocery store in front of Nick and Judy, chasing after a short creature who had sprinted out of the store gripping a bag of fruit. Neither Nick nor Judy could identify the animal since he or she was wearing a hoodie that completely enveloped the animal. Even the hands of the creature were covered by the jacket, causing the creature to look as if it was holding the bag with a black claw. "Speak of the devil…" Nick muttered as the thief ran towards them. Judy immediately held out her hand in an attempt to stop the animal. "ZPD, stop in the name of the law!"

The animal stopped for a second at Judy's order, then quickly sprinted away from them. Judy quickly began running in pursuit of the thief, putting her rabbit legs to good use and leaving Nick in shock for a second before he joined in the chase. "This is officer Hopps, I am in pursuit of a shoplifter who just robbed a grocery store on Paw Road in Savanna Central. Suspect is a little under 4 feet tall and wearing an oversized black hoodie, I can't make anything else out about the suspect due to the hoodie." Judy quickly yelled into her radio as she closed in on the thief, Nick close behind. "Copy that, we are sending a police cruiser that way for when you catch the crook" The high-pitched reply from Clawhauser came from the radio, along with noises that sounded suspiciously like chewing. As Judy started to catch up to the thief, he zipped into a large crowd of people ahead of them, weaving through the people in an attempt to escape Judy and Nick. Judy and Nick struggled through the crowd, quickly losing sight of the criminal. As Judy made it through the crowd, she found that the hooded thief was nowhere to be seen. As she looked around, Nick managed to catch up to her. "Did you lose the suspect?" Nick was panting slightly, winded after trying to keep up with the fast-paced bunny. "I don't understand, he was right in front of me!" Judy replied rapidly, her head whipping around and her ears standing straight up as she searched for the thief. As Nick started to look around, he noticed a flash of black from the corner of his eye. As he turned around, he saw the criminal slip into an alley behind them. "Found him! Slipped around you in the crowd, carrots. He went down the alley behind us." Judy whipped around, then frowned slightly. "Wait, that alley is a dead end. Why would he trap himself if he knows that he is being chased?"

As Judy and Nick approached the alley, they lowered their voices so as to not alert the criminal of their presence. "He probably thought that we didn't see him, and is just waiting till we leave to slip out and escape." Nick reasoned as they slowly entered the alley. Some dumpsters near the back of the alley formed a barricade of sorts with only a small gap between the middle two dumpsters, preventing the two officers from seeing anything past the makeshift wall. As they approached the barricade, they heard shuffling coming from behind it. Judy and Nick silently edged up to the gap in the barricade and looked through, but were surprised by what they saw.

On the other side of the barricade was a large refrigerator box lying of its side. A thin and tattered blanket lay halfway out of the box. Next to it, the thief had his back turned to Nick and Judy, pulling random fruit from the bag he had stolen. As Judy and Nick started to walk towards the thief, Judy accidently bumped into a trashcan hidden behind the dumpster, startling the thief and causing him to whirl around, his hood falling down in the process. Both Nick and Judy gasped in shock, as this was something they had never seen before.

The creature appeared to be a male and was obviously a child, but not of any species that the two officer knew. He had wild, tangled hair the color of milk chocolate, but his face had no fur on him at all save for eyebrows, which were just as wild as the hair on top of his head. Instead, his face was just pale white skin, drawn back due to malnourishment. But the strangest of all was his eyes, a rainbow of colors shifting like a kaleidoscope. He stumbled backwards away from Nick and Judy, clutching the bag of fruit to his chest.

"What species is he?" Judy said to Nick as they took in this odd creature. "I don't know carrots." Nick said as he quickly put the entire image of the alley together. "But I think I do know something about him. He's homeless. That's why he came back here, not because he was hiding from us, but because this is where he sleeps." Nick said this as he looked from the refrigerator box to the boy. Judy looked at her partner in surprise, then looked back to the boy with sadness in her eyes. "That's awful. We have to help him Nick!" She took a step towards the boy, but he immediately took a step back away from them, obviously afraid of them. Judy frowned and stepped back, giving the kid some room. He seemed to relax slightly, the look of fear being replaced with one of distrust. Nick noted his reaction to Judy, and came up with a plan to coax the boy to them. "So, this is where you stay, right?" Nick gestured to the refrigerator box, causing the boy's eyes to flicker to it before coming back to Nick and Judy.

"Not bad, but you could do better." Nick took on a casual expression, watching the boy. The kid just clutched the bag of fruit tighter, still wary of the officers. "Don't worry, we're not going to take those from you, we just want to talk right now." Nick stuck his hands in his pockets, looking completely at ease. The kid relaxed even more, seeming to be put more at ease now that he knew that the officers wouldn't take his food, but he still watched them closely. Judy picked up on Nick's idea, and began to speak softly to the boy. "Nick is right, we just want to help. Why don't you come with us?" She held out her hand to the boy, causing him to look at it in distrust and take another step back. "Please, let us help you. I promise neither of us will hurt you, we just want to help you." Judy looked him in the eyes, surprising him when he realized that she seemed to only have concern for him rather than contempt. "Come on kid, what do you have to lose?" Oddly enough, Nick's comment seemed to be the deciding factor. The kid slowly looked around the alley, looked back into Judy's eyes, and slowly inched forwards before taking Judy's hand. Judy smiled at the boy before turning to Nick. "Good job. Now, let's get this kid back to the station." Nick pull his radio out and reported back to Clawhauser. "This is officer Wilde, we have the suspect. He's a….. well I'm not sure what he is. He seems to be a homeless kid though, and possibly a new species. We are in an alley on Paw Road, between a residential building and a laundromat." "Ok, I'll let the guys in the cruiser know, they should be there is a minute or two" As Clawhauser's reply came back, the boy tensed up and stopped in his tracks. Noticing the boy freeze up at that statement, Nick calmed him down. "Don't worry kid, you're not in trouble. We just need to figure out who you are. Besides, I sure don't feel like walking after the chase you gave us." Nick walked up to him and patted the kid on the back with a sly grin on his face, which seemed to put the kid at ease.

As the two officers walked out of the alley towards the waiting police cruiser with the strange kid in tow, both Nick and Judy knew that this was going to be one exciting case. And as Nick opened the back door for Judy and the kid, the boy began to think. _They're different…. They didn't freak out or call me a freak when they saw me. Maybe…. maybe I can actually trust them..._

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 **Well, that was much longer than the prologue! I hope you guys and girls enjoyed this, as it took a lot of effort to think up this much. I'm not sure when next chapter will be up, but I promise that I won't forget about it!**

 **Also, I challenge everyone to actually look up what a carcal is, as they are a real animal.**

 **If you want to, please leave a review, and if you don't want to leave a review, do it anyways! Every little bit of feedback helps! Tell me what you did or did not like, and any mistakes I made! Feel free to PM me if you have any ideas or suggestions. There's no guarantee that I'll use your idea, but you never know, I might really like a suggestion and alter it to my needs. See you guys and girls later!**


	3. Chapter 2 The Strange Child

**Hey everybody! Sorry for the wait, hope you enjoy this chapter! As stated previously, I do not own Zootopia.**

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The ride back to the precinct was certainly different, if not more eventful, than most. Since Nick and Judy were seated in the back of the police cruiser with the strange child in between them, they had a chance to get a better look at the kid. He was pretty small, coming up to midway past Nick's elbows. His face was pale and gaunt, the signs of malnourishment obvious as they looked at him. Where most mammals' snout would be, the kid's face was relatively flat, with an odd lump above his lips that had to be his nose. That was another odd thing, whereas most mammals had noses with nostrils that faced forwards in front of them, the kid's nostrils faced the ground. His ears were unusual as well, instead of being on top on his head they were hidden beneath his hair on the side of his head.

As they took in how odd he was, the kid took stock of the situation and the people he had just decided to trust. After glancing at the two officers in the front of the cruiser, a rhino and a wolf who were doing their best to ignore him, the kid turned slightly to look at Judy.

 _She seems….different. At least, she doesn't seem to be freaked out by me._ Judy turned as she noticed the kid watching her, looking directly into his eyes in the process.As the kid stared back, he noticed something that struck him as strange. _Is she….concerned about me? Her eyes seem so kind, not fearful or hateful._ Pulling himself away from Judy's purple eyes, the kid turned to observe Nick. _He seems pretty calm too. When he talked to me, he acted like everything was normal._ Nick noticed the kid watching him and turned, looking at him with half-lidded eyes and a slight smile. _He seems pretty laidback, but he doesn't seem to be a bad guy. His eyes are kind too, same as the girl. But why….why are they being so nice to me….?_

"Not bad looking, am I?" Nick's comment startled the kid, causing him to quickly look away from Nick. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Oh and I forgot to mention, my name is Nick. My partner over there is Judy." The kid said nothing, slipping his hands out of the sleeves of his jacket and staring at them. Yet another oddity, the kid's hands were just as furless as his face. His fingers were long and thin, and rather than pointed claws the kid had rounded nails. Unperturbed by the kid's silence, Nick made another attempt to get him to speak. "So, how long have you lived in that alley?" The kid looked at him, looked back down to his lap, and then slowly uncurled two fingers. "Two? Two what? Two weeks, months, years?" As Nick said the word years, the kid nodded slightly. Judy became even more concerned at this. "Two years? How could a kid be homeless and live alone in an alley for two years? That's terrible!" The kid seemed confused by this, as if her concern was odd to him.

They sat in silence for the remainder of the trip, Nick and Judy processing what they had learned while the kid processed Nick and Judy's attitude towards him. Finally, they pulled up to the precinct. As Nick, Judy, and the kid walked into the main lobby, Nick called out to Clawhauser. "Hey Clawhauser, how's it hanging?" The cheetah looked up from the box of donuts in front of him, the ring of sprinkles around his mouth making it even more obvious what he had been previously doing. "Hey Nick, hey Judy! You guys better watch out, Chief Bogo is-"

"HOPPS! WILDE! MY OFFICE, NOW!" The bellow came from the upper floor, where Chief Bogo stood in front of the door to his office, glaring at the two officers and the kid. "Oh boy, this is going to be interesting…" Nick muttered as they made their way to the stairs.

Chief Bogo's office

"Can I ask why we are up here Chief? After all, we didn't break protocol." Judy said to Chief Bogo, both her and Nick sitting in front of Bogo's desk as they talked to the huge water buffalo behind it. "I called you up here to discuss the matter of the child you decided to bring with you. I want to know, in full detail, exactly what led up to you bringing him in and why." Bogo said in his no-nonsense way. As Nick and Judy began explaining the situation, the child sat in a corner of the room with his knees to his chest under his jacket, observing the chief. Looking away from him, the kid noticed something lying on the stand next to him.

"So seeing that he was homeless, and possibly either an unknown or endangered species, we decided to bring him in." Nick said as he and Judy finished explaining everything to Bogo. Bogo sighed, then addressed the two officers in front of him with a softer, but still gruff, tone. "So you are telling me that you saw him race out of a grocery story after having stolen fruit, chased him to an alley, realized that he was homeless and an unidentifiable species, and then decided to bring him in. I can't fault you for that, but what do you think we are supposed to do with him?" A confused look appeared on Judy's face. "What do you mean sir?" Bogo had an exasperated look on his face as he explained. "I mean that we don't exactly have anywhere to put him. We can't keep him in a cell. Besides that, we don't know anything about him. We don't know what species he is, we don't know if he is prey or predator, we don't even know if he is actually a he! So what exactly do you expect we are going to do with him? Because the only real option I can think of right now is to just send him back out onto the streets."

Nick watched Judy as she tried to figure out what they could do while trying to keep a calm demeanor. As he watched her struggle with the idea of having to throw a homeless kid back onto the streets, he suddenly saw an option. Sure, a crazy, most likely going to fail option, but him and Judy seemed good at making those work. "Sir, why don't you let me and Judy take care of him?" Both Judy and Bogo looked at Nick at surprise at his suggestion. "Let you two take care of him? And why do you think that would be a good idea?" Bogo said to Nick, obviously against the idea. "Well sir, considering that all we have been doing since the nighthowler case is patrol work, it's not like we don't have time to spare…" As he said this Judy caught on to the idea, continuing on from where Nick left off. "And the kid seems to trust us, so we could take care of him!" Bogo sighed and proceeded to crush the idea. "I know that you two are just trying to do the right thing, but it's not going to work. Neither of you know enough about him to take care of him. You don't know what he eats and you don't even know his name!"

At this point Bogo pointed at the kid, all three of the officers turning to look at him. This also caused all three of them to adopt a look of confusion, as they then saw the kid writing on something with a pen that he had pulled from his jacket pocket. As Judy slipped out of her seat and walked to the kid, he handed her what he had been writing on before looking at the three officer.

"What is that?" Bogo inquired. As Judy read the paper she had been given, a slight smile appeared on her face. "Well sir, it looks like this is exactly what we needed to figure out who he is, and what he is. It's one of our police officer application forms, and he filled it out." The paper she held as in fact one of the same forms that Judy had handed to Nick when she had asked him to become her partner. The kid had noticed it lying on the stand next to him, and for some reason had decided to fill part of it out as if he was applying himself. Judy began reading out what the kid had written. "Name, Renn. Age, 9. Species, Human. Prey or predator….both? Oh, he wrote 'I eat meat and plants' next to that. I guess he technically is both then." As the three officer looked back to Renn, they still had questions. Nick, of course, said what they were wondering. "What is a human?" Bogo shrugged and looked back to Nick and Judy. "It doesn't matter right now, what matters is that we at least know his name, how old he is, and what he eats. Though I'm still not sure that I should let you two take him." As Bogo said this both Nick and Judy could see that he was starting to cave. As Nick looked back at his partner, he noticed that Renn had written something on the back of the application.

"Well Chief, I think that you and the kid might disagree then." As Bogo and Judy gave Nick a confused look, he took the form from Judy and handed it to Bogo, the back side up. "See here Chief, 'I want to go with Nick and Judy.' Looks like the kid wants to come with us." As Nick said this, Renn scooted out of his chair and walked up to Judy, taking her hand. Looking at him in surprise before giving him a warm smile, Judy turned to Bogo. "I think that settles it, we'll take care of him!"

As Bogo watched how Nick and Judy seemed to be so prepared to take care of a random child, and the child's willingness to go with them, he finally caved with a sigh. "Fine. You two can take the child with you and take care of him for now. But, if I even think that you two are doing a bad job, the kid is gone and sent to child services! Is that clear?" Judy was beaming while Nick simply had his trademark smirk on his face. "Of course Chief, since when have we let you down?" Bogo shook his head before finally dismissing them. "Out you two! And I still expect to see the both of you here tomorrow as usual."

Nick and Judy walked out of Bogo's office with Renn in tow, still holding Judy's hand. As they walked down the stairs and across the lobby, Nick realized something rather important and turned to Judy. "Hey carrots, which one of us is going to take Renn home tonight?" As the two looked at each other, Judy saw the potential problem. "Well, I guess I can't really take him, my apartment is too small." As Judy started to frown, Nick quickly absolved the problem. "Well then I guess he can just stay with me. After all, how hard could taking care of him be?" Judy was surprised by his willingness to let Renn stay with him, but still had concerns. "I don't know Nick, I think I should be there with him too. How about I come spend the night with you while Renn stays with you?"

Nick stood up a little straighter at Judy's question, facing away from her in order to hide the rising blush on his face. Judy, taking that as Nick's discomfort, looked a little downhearted as she spoke softly, her ears drooping. "Or I guess I could just stay home if you're not ok with that…" Nick quickly spun around, immediately reassuring. "No! That sounds great carrots! No problem at all!" Judy perked up a little. "Are you sure? I mean I could just…" Nick cut her off. "It's fine carrots! You can come over and I'll pull out the extra mattress for you. There's plenty of room." Judy smiled, ensured that Nick didn't mind. "Well then, I guess we can head by my place, let me grab some extra clothes, and head to your home."

The entire time this is going on, Renn is watching the two of them with a knowing look. _So, Nick likes Judy. I wonder if she realizes…_

Nick grinned, relieved that he hadn't hurt Judy's feelings. "Ok carrots, you're the boss." Judy grinned back and then started walking. "Then let's go!"

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 **Well that was fun. It was interesting to figure out how I was going to present most of the info about Renn, but now you know! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and I hope that everyone enjoys whatever comes next!**

 **Feel free to leave a review. You can point out my mistakes so I can fix them, tell me what you really liked or disliked, or leave suggestions on what you think should happen. I really enjoy reading reviews, so the more the merrier. I'm especially open to ideas on how to spice up my writing, as I know it can seem bland or repetitive at times.**


	4. Chapter 3 McDuckal's

**Hey everybody, it's that time again! New chapter for the win! But before we get to that, I want to say a few things about a review I received.**

 **I would like to say thanks to a random guest that gave me a review. S/he mentioned that I didn't seem like a first time writer, but I must confirm that I am indeed a newbie. I just read way too much fiction, so I have a lot of ideas and a lot of reference. Also, that same guest gave me my first real bit of constructive criticism, and I would like to say thanks for that as well. S/he presented the issue very well, and I will do my best to use that to my advantage in the future.**

 **The last thing that s/he said also had to be mentioned here, just so I can point out the irony. S/he said that I should take all the time I needed to write my story the way I want, obviously just trying to make sure I didn't think s/he was trying to rush me. But I laughed for a good 5 minutes when I read that. Why? Because the entire last chapter I posted was quite literally written in about 2-3 hours while I was sitting in the corner of a building after having just won a 3 hour long tennis match for first place in my region, which was the same day I posted. This doesn't mean that I will be posting more often, I just couldn't help but mention it so that everyone saw the irony.**

 **Also, random trivia! The rule that you are not allowed to end a sentence with a preposition such as with or for is actually a myth. At least it technically is, that rule only applies to Latin. In the 1600's a pretty important poet mentioned how he felt that it seemed wrong that it only applied to Latin and not English, and it somehow just became assumed that it applied to both.**

 **Now, allons-y!**

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It was when they were about half way to Judy's home when it happened. It started low, so soft that Nick and Judy almost didn't even hear it. "Was that… A growl?" Judy asked as she looked to Nick, the only predator nearby besides Renn. "Don't look at me, I didn't do it." As the two of them looked around, they heard it again. It was much louder this time, rumbling strongly. They turned towards the direction of the growl, and realized that it was coming from Renn. Or to be more specific, Renn's stomach.

Nick grinned as ruffled Renn's hair. "Well, it sounds like our new friend here is hungry." At that Renn's stomach let out an ever bigger growl, which was then accompanied by a growl from Judy's stomach. Nick looked between the two of them and let out a chuckle. "Heh heh… I guess it is about lunch time. How about we grab something to eat before we get your stuff?" Judy noticed Renn's eyes light up at the mention of food. "Sure, how about we go to the McDuckal's up ahead?" Nick nodded. "Sure, and I'll pay. My treat."

A few minutes later at McDuckal's

"Go ahead guys, pick whatever you want. I'm buying." Judy smiled and turned to the employee taking their order, a lynx whose nametag read 'Rilly'. "I'll have the carrot salad. What about you Renn?" As Judy turned to him, he seemed a little confused. "Go on, get as much as you want." Renn looked at Nick and Judy in surprise as he realized that they were being serious, then quickly shook it off. He turned, looked at the menu above them, and then pointed to the pictures of a triple decker chicken burger and a huge salad. "Well, I guess he's getting the triple pounder chicken burger and the carrot salad. And I'll have the quarter pounder chicken burger." Nick said as he handed the cash for the meal to the cashier. The three walked over to a table and sat down to wait for their meal, Renn with his back to a wall with Nick and Judy in front of him.

As they waited, Nick noticed that Renn seemed to be fidgeting and was constantly glancing around with a nervous look in his eyes. Nick recognized his nervous attitude from his years as a con-artist, and did his best to calm him down. "Relax kid. You're with us, there's no reason to be worried." Renn turned to look at Nick, reading his calm expression before relaxing slightly. Judy, in an attempt to calm Renn down further and to get him to open up some, started asking him questions. "So, how did you get to Zootopia?" Turning to look at Judy, Renn put two fingers on the table and moved them in a walking fashion. "You walked? From where?" At that Renn pulled out a notepad from inside his jacket, opened it up, and started drawing. Nick and Judy glanced at each other before looking back at Renn, who was now holding up the notepad with a picture of a peace sign on it.

"Peace? You walked from…peace?" Nick asked in confusion as he tried to figure out just what that could mean. Renn simply nodded and closed the notepad, obviously ending that line of questioning. "Well ok then… How come you're wearing that huge jacket?" Judy said as she watched him stash the notepad back into the forementioned jacket. Renn seemed to get distant at that question, pulling his legs up to his chest underneath the jacket and looking away with an almost empty expression. His eyes seemed to dull and fade, almost grey compared to the rainbow of colors they previously held. Judy lowered her voice, speaking to Renn softly with an apologetic tone as she realized that this had just brought up something bad from his past. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Renn glanced up at her and watched her, staring at her drooping ears and purple eyes for a moment before nodding slightly and lowering his legs, opening up again. His eyes seemed to regain their colorful appearance, if not quite a brightly.

"It's fine kid. You tell us as much as you want, we won't pry." Nick said with a calm expression. Renn turned to him and nodded again, relaxing slightly again to the same level of openness he had before Judy mentioned his jacket. "Order for number 4!" Nick heard the cashier call out their number and stood up. "I'll get it, you guys wait here." As he walked towards the counter, Judy looked down at the table. _Oh Nick, why can't I be more like you… You always know what to say and you always know how to bring out the truth... After all, like you said, I know I love you…_ Unknown to Nick, Judy shared the same growing feelings that he had. She had begun to care for him more than a partner, and who could blame her? Nick was the only person who had actually believed in her during the first two days of the nighthowler case before she found the missing mammals. But she shared the same doubts that Nick had, worried how the world would see a rabbit dating a fox. _I can't get Nick into something that would make people look down on him again. And besides, he probably isn't even interested in a bunny like me. With looks like his, he could have any fox he wants. Better to just be his friend, then to lose him…_

What Judy didn't know as she had these thoughts was that she was mumbling them under her breath, and that Renn had heard every word. _So, she does care about him… I don't get why they can't see that they care about each other. It seems so obvious…_ Renn watched Judy for a little longer before reaching out and touching her hand. Looking up at him as she was startled out of her thoughts, Judy looked into his eyes for a moment before he pulled his hand back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to drift off on you." As she said this, she saw Nick approaching with their food from the corner of her eye and smiled at Renn. "But it doesn't matter, here comes our food!" Nick sat back down besides Judy as he placed their food in front of them. "Bon appétit everybody!"

If Renn's eyes were colorful and bright before, then they were shining when Nick set the burger and salad in front of him. Faster than they could blink, Renn was tearing into his burger with a ravenous appetite. Shocked, Nick and Judy watched as he devoured the burger in a matter of seconds, and then quickly began making short work of his salad. "Well, that explains how he could eat meat and plants." Nick muttered as he watched Renn. "What do you mean?" Judy said in confusion. "Look at his teeth." Nick said as he began eating, already over the shock. Looking more closely at Renn, Judy immediately saw what Nick meant. Renn had long, sharp teeth and small canines that he had used to tear his burger apart. Yet at the same time, she could see that he also had the broad, flat molars that herbivores used to grind up plants as they ate.

A few seconds after making this observation, Renn had finished everything. Not a shred of meat or leaf of lettuce was left. Sighing slightly, Renn leaned back in his chair, a contented look in his eyes. "Renn, when was the last time you ate?" Judy asked as she slowly started to nibble on her meal. Renn look up, tilted his head slightly in thought, and then held up two fingers. "Two? Two what? Two days?" Renn shook his head. "…Two weeks?" Renn nodded, not noticing Judy and Nick share a concerned look. They watched as Renn leaned back and shut his eyes, digesting what was most likely the biggest meal he had eaten in a long time. Finally, they looked back at each other before Nick said what they were both thinking. "Well, you won't have to worry about food ever again Renn. Not if we have anything to say about it."

Opening his eyes slightly, Renn watched the two mammals in front of him as they started eating. _Never have to worry about food? I can't remember when I haven't worried about food. Why would he say that? Do they… Do they really care about me…? Can I trust them….? But it's been so long since I've trusted anyone, not since that night five years ago._

 _Maybe… maybe they are the ones I can trust._

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 **Hooray, another chapter complete! I can't believe I wrote this so soon after the last one. Hopefully you guys and girls enjoyed it.**

 **On an off topic, I would like everyone's opinions on something. I have been having ideas for another story, but I'm not sure how people would like it. I have been thinking of making a crossover with Zootopia and the old Sam and Max cartoons (if you don't know about them, look them up to get a better reference). There would be a lot of random gratuitous violence, crazy hijinks, and random use of common household items to solve puzzles in convoluted ways. At least, I think there would. Also, I would like to know if everyone would be interested in a sequel to this story when I finish it. I know it's pretty premature since I'm probably not even close to finishing this story yet, but it never hurts to see people's opinion. So please leave your opinions on if you guys and girls would be interested in either or both of those ideas.**

 **Please leave a review, I love reading them! And replying to them if I can. So tell me what you like, what you didn't like, or any mistakes I've made. And definitely feel free to leave your own suggestions or ideas for the story, any extra reference helps and you will be mentioned if I decide I like an idea enough to use it.**


	5. Chapter 4 Casa de Nick, and A Nightmare

**Look everyone, it's a new chapter! Sorry for the longer wait, but school work has been building up and finals are coming around the corner for me. Hopefully everyone enjoys this chapter as much as the rest.**

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The trip to Judy's apartment from the McDuckal's was relatively uneventful for Nick, Judy, and Renn. Other than receiving some odd looks from random people who happened to pass by them, the three made it to their destination without any trouble. Upon arriving in front of the door to Judy's apartment, Judy turned to Nick and Renn. "Ok guys, just wait here. I promise I won't take long. As she turned back to the door and unlocked it, Nick smirked at Renn behind her back. As soon as Judy had slipped through the door and shut it, Nick held up five fingers and slowly began curling them in a silent countdown.

Right after Nick reached the end of his countdown, Judy's door swung open. Walking out with a suitcase, Judy shut the door and locked it before turning back to Nick and Renn. "Sorry for the wait guys." Nick smirked at the irony of the statement as he replied. "No problem carrots, you only took five seconds. How about I carry that suitcase for you?" Judy smiled and passed her suitcase to him as they walked to the front of the apartment complex. "Thanks Nick!" As they walked outside, Judy took Renn's hand before turning to Nick. "So where do you live Nick? I've never actually been to your home."

"Actually carrots, I live about twenty minutes from here in a different apartment complex. It's not quite as small as yours though." Nick said as he began to lead them down the street. Judy seemed a little surprised before smiling again. "You're that close? I guess I'm going to have to visit you more often after this now that I know." Nick just smiled at the idea of seeing Judy even more and led them in silence.

Eventually, Nick stopped in front of a relatively large apartment complex. "This is it, The Fox Hole." Judy gave Nick a look that showed just how ironic she thought that was. "Really? The Fox Hole? You can't be serious." Nick led them inside the main lobby and started down a long hallway. "Nope, I'm telling the truth. After all, would I lie to you?" Nick gave Judy an innocent smile at that, causing both of them to start chuckling after a short while as they remembered the last time he used that phrase. "Hehe… Of course not. Still, I can't believe that you would live in a place with a name like that." Nick smiled at the obvious irony of the situation. "Well despite the how stereotypical it sounds for a fox to live in a place called The Fox Hole, it is a pretty good setup. It's not too far from the station, and the apartment is pretty nice for the price." Nick stopped at the door at the very end of the hallway. "Speaking of which, we're here."

Nick pulled out a key from his pocket, unlocked the door, and swung it open. "Welcome to casa de Nick." Walking into Nick's apartment, Judy could see that it much bigger than her own, even if that wasn't saying much. He had a medium sized all-purpose space that he had separated into different parts, each area of the space serving a different purpose while still making the room feel open. The area that they immediately walked into acted as a living room of sorts, with a couch facing a 46 inch TV sitting on a stand against a wall. A small table and a few chairs set in one corner of the room, making that part of the space a dining room of sorts. Across from the table was a small kitchen area equipped with a fridge, a microwave, an oven with a stove top, and a few cabinets. The kitchen area was separated from the rest of the space by a counter coming out of the wall, a couple barstools. A door between the dining area and kitchen most likely led to Nick's room, while two more doors near the couch were probably a guest room and a bathroom.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about your place being nice." Judy said as she took in the size of the apartment. As she and Renn looked around, Nick walked over to one of the doors by the couch and opened it up to reveal a plain room with a dresser and king sized bed with a few blankets on top of it. "Well thanks carrots. I'm glad you like it. Now, Renn can sleep in here in the guest room." Renn walked in and surveyed the room, taking a good look at everything before walking back to Nick. "Sorry about how empty the room is, but it will do for now." Renn simply nodded and walked to the bed, sitting down on it and feeling the covers. "Great! Now as for you Judy, you can stay in this room."

As Nick and Judy walked out of the guest room, Renn stayed behind to process everything. _A bed… I haven't slept in a real bed in years… It feels so soft and comfy. How can he just take me in and give me a bed like this? It doesn't make sense… Still, I won't complain. After all, it feel nice to have real food in me a somewhere nice to sleep instead of sleeping in a box. Maybe I will finally be able to sleep peacefully…_

Nick led Judy to the door by the table as Renn had these thoughts. Opening up the door, Nick revealed a less, if only slightly, empty room than the guest room. There was another king sized bed and a dresser along with a nightstand by the bed with an alarm clock and a lamp. A pair of sunglasses and a picture frame rested on the dresser. An open closet door in the corner of the room revealed a few nicely hung floral shirts. As Judy walked in and set down her suitcase, she turned to look more closely at the picture frame. As she peered at it, she saw picture was of a cheerful looking fox cub holding the hand of a smiling female fox. Judy came to a realization what room Nick was giving her as she figured out just who she was looking at in the picture.

"Wait… This is your room Nick. I can't ta-" Nick cut her off, waving his hand dismissively. "Sure you can Judy. After all, you're my guest. I wouldn't be a very good host if I made my guest sleep on the couch would I?" Nick smiled at her before picking up the picture frame. "I was around eight years old when we took this picture. That cute little scamp would be me of course, and she is my mother." Judy watched Nick's face as a smile appeared on his face, free of its usual sarcasm and slyness. "You two look happy." Nick's smile grew as he drifted back to the memories of that day. "It was a good day. Mom had taken me to the movies, and we had gotten ice cream afterwards. Money was tight, but Mom felt like having a nice time and wanted to make me happy." Nick set the picture down softly and turned to Judy, his smile turning back to its normal, sly appearance. "But enough of the past. You can sleep here and I'll take the couch."

"Fine, but only because you're the host." Judy said as Nick grabbed a spare pillow and blanket out of the closet. "Great. Now, we should probably check on the kid." Judy nodded and the two of them left Nick's room. "Your right. Renn must be overwhelmed. After all, he just went from being homeless to having his own room." Nick tossed the pillow and blanket onto the couch as they walked to the guest room door. "Yeah, it has to be weird to him, being given all of this. Hope he's…" Nick trailed off as he and Judy came to a stop in front of the bed. Renn was laying on top of the covers, fast asleep. He had finally taken off his huge hoodie, which now lay next to him. Though it was now partially apparent that he constantly wore it, all Renn had on underneath it was a small, white T-shirt that was so threadbare and thin that he might as well not be wearing it, and a pair of black shorts that were in the exact same condition. Nick and Judy watched him a moment before Judy walked up and covered Renn with one of the blankets at the foot of the bed. Judy turned back to Nick and the two of them left the room quietly, shutting the door behind them.

"Well, I think I'm going to follow the kid's lead on this and hit the hay." Nick said as he sat down on the couch. "Yeah, we have a big day tomorrow. I'll see you in the morning." Judy replied as she headed towards Nick's room. "Goodnight Nick." "Goodnight Judy."

About an hour later

Neither Nick nor Judy could sleep, though neither of the two knew that the other was up. Judy lay in Nick bed, kept up by the fact that she was actually sleeping in her best friend's bed, the same friend that she had feeling for. And she was kept up by the thought that she secretly wished that Nick was next to her right now. Nick stared at the ceiling, pondering how his best friend was sleeping in his own bed, and how he wanted to be in there by her side. Both of them shared similar thoughts and concerns that kept them awake, and both of them were startled out of their thoughts when they heard it.

It was soft, and yet it broke the silence of the apartment as if it was a loud crash. A whimper, a sound of fear. Nick sat up as the door to his room opened and Judy walked out. "Did you hear that?" Judy said, walking over to Nick with a concerned look. "Yeah, but I don't know where…" Nick didn't get to finish as a louder cry sounded out. This time both of them could tell where it had come from, but the answer did nothing to ease their concerns. Nick quickly got off of the couch and went to the guest room door with Judy right behind him. As they opened the door, they found a sad sight. Renn was whimpering and crying in fear, thrashing about in the grip of a horrible nightmare.

Judy and Nick immediately ran to him. "Renn! Renn, wake up! Renn!" Judy tried to wake him, but to no avail. The grasp of this nightmare could not be broken by simply waking Renn up. Seeing him in such fear and pain, Judy instinctively did what first came to her mind. She got up onto the bed, and wrapped her arms around Renn in an attempt to calm him. "It's ok Renn, it's ok. Everything is going to be ok…" Judy held him and whispered softly to him, slowly calming him from the panic of his nightmare. She felt him press his face to her chest, softly sobbing into her as the last of his thrashing subsided. She stroked the top of his head, still whispering to him. "It's ok now, we're here. We won't let anything happen to you. Everything is alright…"

Nick watched with a mix of sadness and wonder, amazed at how quickly Judy had calmed Renn while wondering what could have happen to him to give him such nightmares. Nick turned to leave, feeling that there was nothing he could do, when he felt a hand grasp his wrist. "Don't go. Please Nick, stay here with me. I don't think I can handle this all night on my own." Judy whispered to him, one arm still wrapped protectively around Renn. Nick stood there for a few seconds, conflicted, before finally sighing and getting on the bed. "Ok carrots. I promise I won't leave you." He laid down beside them, watching as Judy took care of Renn. "Thank you Nick…"

Renn's sobs finally ceased as he was released from his nightmare. He stayed pressed close to Judy, and the warmth of the boy lulled her to sleep. Nick watched the two, sleeping peacefully, and was struck by just how motherly Judy seemed. As the warmth of the two bodies next to him lulled him, Nick whispered one last passing thought before drifting off to sleep. "I promise I won't leave you ever, my Judy…"

As the night passed and day began to arrive, the sight of the three mammals sleeping in the bed would have warmed the coldest of hearts. Judy with her arms wrapped around Renn, Nick with his arms wrapped around the two of them with his tail draped across them like a blanket. And Renn in the center, sleeping peacefully with a small smile on his face. The first smile he had shown in four years.

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 **Well, I thought that this would be a nice way to end the chapter. I hope that everyone enjoyed this one!**

 **As usual, please leave a review. Doesn't matter if it's praise, pointing out a mistake, sharing an idea, or just wanting to chat. All are welcome here!**

 **Also, just because I feel like it, I would like to hear what some of my readers like. So if you leave a review, also say what one of your favorite things is. It doesn't matter if it is you favorite book, TV show, catch phrase, I want to hear one of your favorite somethings!**

 **Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic day!**


	6. Chapter 5 Calm Before the Storm

**Well everybody, it's that time again! Sorry for the long wait again, finals have been killing me with studying. -_-**

 **I would like to give a shout out to Sora Pendragon, he has been messaging me back and forth discussing some ideas I have for the story, as well as suggesting some ideas of his own that I'm going to use. He's currently writing his own fic called DRAGON, which you should check out. So thanks man!**

 **Now, on with the story!**

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Renn woke up to the unfamiliar feeling of warmth. Used to the feeling of coldness after having slept in a box in an alley for so long, Renn found this new feeling quite nice. Then he realized that something was wrapped around him. Opening his eyes, Renn found that Judy was right next to him, fast asleep and holding him tight. He looked over on the other side of the bed, Renn saw that Nick was also asleep in the bed, his tail wrapped around the three of them. While Renn was surprised to find them in the bed with him, he couldn't help but feel glad that they were there. They were kind and compassionate, different from how most mammals treated him. And something about them made Renn get that strange feeling inside him…

 _Safe. They make me feel safe. I haven't really felt safe in years. It feels….good. I don't feel tired, or afraid, or alone…_ As he thought about this, he had a second realization. _And my nightmare stopped. I was having the same nightmare I always have, but then it went away. I can't remember the last time I slept without nightmares. Was that when Nick and Judy came in here with me…?_ Renn was pulled from his thoughts as he felt Judy shift, starting to wake up. It didn't take long for her to open up her eyes, she being a quick and early riser due to her energetic nature. Yawning, Judy smiled at Renn.

"Good morning Renn. Are you feeling ok? You started having nightmares last night, so Nick and I stayed with you to try to help calm you down." Renn nodded once, then hugged Judy. She blinked in surprise at the sudden show of emotion, then hugged him back tightly. "Heh, looks like someone's feeling better after his night terrors." The comment startled both of them out of their hug, neither having realized that Nick had woken up. Renn turned to him, looked him in the eyes, and then hugged him. Nick looked at Renn with a mixture of confusion and surprise before smiling and patting him on the back.

Renn let go of Nick after a short while. Nick checked his phone and got off of the bed, stretching. "Well, I guess it's about time that we get outa bed." "Wait, what time is it?" Judy said in confusion before checking her own phone, quickly jumping out of the bed when she saw the time. "It's 7:30?! Nick, why didn't you wake me up or set an alarm!? We're late for work!" Nick gave Judy one of his knowing smirks. "Don't you remember what Bogo told us, carrots? Judy frowned at him, annoyed at how calm he was despite how they were missing work. "Yeah, that he expected to see us at work like normal!" Nick smirked again, further annoying Judy. "He did say that, yesterday. But if you remember, he said something different Wednesday." Judy looked at Nick in confusion.

Nick began to imitate Bogo as he repeated the chief's words from three days ago. "Hopps! Wilde! I know that you're our best officers in the force, you come in earlier and leave later than anyone else on the force. But you need to take a break. You have put in so much overtime that you're making everyone else look bad. So, both of you are going to take the weekend off. That is an order." Nice was still smirking as he continued in his normal voice. "So, since Chief Bogo kindly gave us the weekend off, I don't think we have to worry about him or work today." Judy paused, then smiled when she realized that Nick was correct. "I guess not then. In that case, what's for breakfast?"

Having realized that he was woefully unprepared for two extra people in terms of food, Nick took them to a small café near a mall in the shopping district of Savana Central. Nick sipped a cup of coffee as he and Judy ate some donuts, while Renn devoured a fruit salad bigger than his head. "So, what do you think we should do today, carrots? It's not every day that Bogo gives time off." Judy finished off the donut she had been eating. "Well, I was thinking that we should do some shopping. Renn needs some new clothes, and you need some more food if you're going to have to take care of him." As she said that, they looked at Renn just in time to see him finish off his fruit salad. "A lot of food, if I'm going to have to keep up with that kind of appetite," Nick said.

 _Huh… New clothes…It would be nice to wear something other than what I have on right now. I wonder what kind of clothes I should get… Actually, what kind of clothes do I even like? I've never really worn anything other than this shirt, shorts, and my jacket…_ As Renn pondered just what he wanted to wear, he was shaken from his thoughts as he realized that Judy had asked him something. "You ready to go Renn?" Judy asked as Renn looked up at her. He nodded and the three got out of their chairs and left the café. Walking for a little bit, they soon arrived at the nearby mall, The Watering Hole.

Heading inside, Judy started pulling Renn towards a nearby clothing boutique. "I'm going to go stock up on food, so I'll meet you guys back here when you're done shopping," Nick called out as he walked off towards a small grocery store. Judy and Renn entered the boutique and were immediately greeted by a cheerful looking employee, an artic wolf in a red vest and pants. "Hello! Welcome to The Wolf's Wardrobe." He watched as Judy pulled Renn towards some racks of clothes. _Weird kid, wonder what kind of species he is. He can't be her kid, there's no way he's a rabbit._ The wolf was still wondering just who the odd pair were when they approached the counter, paid for ten sets of shirts, shorts, and pants, and left the boutique.

"Hey guys, you find something you like?" Nick asked as Judy and Renn approached him back at the entrance of the mall. "Yep! Renn's got a whole new wardrobe now." Judy said as they walked up to Nick. "And it looks like you got enough food to feed an army!" Nick was carrying twelve bags of fruits, veggies, and different kinds of meet. "Yeah, I wasn't sure what Renn would like so I decided to get a little of everything. We should be good for at least a week. So, you ready to head back to my place?" Renn nodded, then let a small smile break his face. "Well look at that, you can smile. It looks good on you kid, you should try it more often. Now, let's head home."

As the three started making their way to Nick's home, Renn was thinking about just what he had. _New clothes, food, a home, people who care about me…. I finally have everything I ever wanted. I can trust them, I know it now. It looks like I finally don't have to worry about anything anymore..._

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 **Hey everyone, I once again apologize for the late chapter. I also apologize for it being shorter than normal, I've been busy lately and I just wanted to post so that no one thought I had abandoned the fic. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be, I've got a lot going on right now, and it's not really planned yet. What I do know about the next chapter is this, never say "I don't have to worry anymore," because then something comes up to make you worry. Hopefully that will appease everyone for now, I'll try to avoid another 2 week wait as best I can.**

 **Hopefully everybody caught it, but in case someone missed it the name of the mall is a reference to why the central region of Zootopia is called Savana Central. Savana Central is supposed to be like, "the watering hole where prey and predator came together to make peace." Not an exact quote, but close enough.**

 **As always, please leave a review. I really enjoy hearing back from my viewers, and hearing the likes and dislikes of my viewers about my fic helps me to write better. I do my best to message back to PMs and reviews, so feel free to ask questions.**


	7. Chapter 6 All Good Things

**Ta-da! I'm back, and come bearing the gift of a new chapter. So thanks to some feedback from a viewer called BonkBoy, I'm going to be trying something a little different with how I structure everything. I spaced everything out a bit more, so every time there is a line break between spoken dialogue then that indicates a change in speaker. As in, person 1 speaks, line break, person 2 speaks. Hopefully that makes it easier to understand. Also, due to the nature of the description of the case that our two heroes will be receiving, as well as possible violence in the future, the fic will now be rated M. Don't let it put you off too much. I hope you enjoy!**

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The call came right after Nick, Judy, and Renn had gotten back to Nick's apartment and put up all of their purchases. Judy's phone began to ring, and she quickly answered when she saw the caller ID.

"Chief Bogo? …Yes Nick is here…Well you did tell us to take the weekend off…Wensday, you said it was mandatory...Yes sir, we will be there as soon as possible."

"What was that all about?" Nick said as Judy turned to him.

"We need to get our uniforms and get to the precinct. Some kind of big case has come in and the Chief wants us on it."

"Really? Well we are the best on the force, so I shouldn't be that surprised that Bogo wants us on a big case. Still, it must be really big for Bogo to pull us off a break that he gave us himself." Nick said as he grabbed his uniform from his closet. "What about the kid? It's not exactly going to be safe for us to take me with us on a case."

"I don't know really, I guess we will have to figure it out when we get there and find out what the case is." Judy said as she closed the door to Nick's room.

Nick sighed and spoke to Renn as he went to the bathroom to change. "Well kid, I guess you're going to have to come with us to the station again. I wouldn't worry too much, we'll figure out what we're going to do with you while we are on this case."

As the door shut, Renn couldn't help but get an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. _Sure, I'll be safe. Nick and Judy wouldn't let anything happen to me. And it's not like_ _ **he**_ _is here…_

Precinct 1, 2p.m.

Nick and Judy walked into Bogo's office, wondering just what kind of case they were about to be given. They had left Renn down with Clawhauser, after multiple promises that Clawhauser was trustworthy and a few offered donuts from the cheetah in question. They waited in front of Bogo's desk as he handed Nick a small case file and began to debrief them.

"Officers Hopps, Wilde, I am making this case your top assignment. While all of our officers technically have this as one of their priorities, I want you two to make it your only priority as far as your job goes."

"What kind of case are we talking about here Chief? It can't be as bad as…Oh." Nick's ears flattened and he quickly lost his cocky attitude as he opened up the case file and saw the details.

Taking the folder from his hands, Judy steeled herself for whatever could have shaken Nick that badly. Opening up the folder, Judy couldn't help but let a small gasp out at the pictures of the crime scene. "Oh God…"

The images revealed a massacre. There were five victims, all of them covered in blood. It was obvious that they had been attacked, but based on the wounds it would have been more accurate to call it a slaughter. There was a red panda, a wolf, and an antelope. But the last two victims were what sent a shiver down Judy's spine, a fox and a bunny. All of them had numerous claw and teeth marks, but it was nearly impossible to make out the features of the last two through the blood and wounds. Yet these were not the worst part of the crime. What made this case so serious and horrifying was that every single victim's throat had been torn out.

Bogo began speaking to the two officers as Judy quickly shut the folder. "The victims were found earlier today in a warehouse in the commercial district of Sahara Square. The initial case file was put together as quickly as possible to get all officers involved due to the nature of the murders, but we don't have much information yet. You're going to have to go to the crime scene to find some leads. By that time the coroner should be finished autopsying at least one of the victims, and will hopefully have found something. Any questions?" When neither of the officers answered Bogo continued. "Good. You're dismissed. And watch each other's backs, I don't know who did this but he, she, or they are obviously dangerous."

"Yes sir." Nick replied as he and Judy exited the Chief's office. Looking at his partner, he could tell that she was still shaken up by the pictures of the victims. "Hey, you ok carrots? You want to take a breather before we head out?"

After a moment, Judy shook her head. "No. We need to get going to make sure we can get as many leads as possible. We can't waste any time." Judy started making her way down the stairs to the main lobby. Nick watched her for a moment before nodding and following her, knowing that there wasn't much he could do to change Judy's mind when she set it.

"Ok then. Let's at least go check up on Renn before we head out. We're going to have to leave him here with Clawhauser, there's no way we can take him to the crime scene with us." The two of them made their way to the front desk, where Clawhauser and Renn were munching on what looked like their third box of donuts. Spotting Nick and Judy headed towards him, Clawhauser called out enthusiastically.

"Hey guys! What case did Chief Bogo give you? It must be pretty important for him to have to call in the two best officers in the force from their weekend off!" Noticing the grim looks on their faces at the mention of their case, Clawhauser quickly put two and two together on just what Chief Bogo had assigned them. "Oh…It's the murder case from Sahara Square isn't it? Well…At least we have you two on it, so I know you guys will get to the bottom of it!" Clawhauser didn't keep his somber mood for long, his natural giddiness combined the thought that Nick and Judy were on the case causing him to quickly revert back to his normal jolly mood.

"Yeah, we'll solve this case. But I need to ask a favor first. Could you take care of Renn for us for while we go investigate the crime scene?" Judy said, slightly surprised by the cheetah's huge amount of confidence in her and her partner.

"Sure! No problem! I can take care of him for you."

"Thank you!" Judy turned to look at Renn, whose face was covered in sprinkles and icing. "Renn, I need you to stay with Clawhauser while me and Nick go investigate something. Be good, ok?" Renn nodded, then reached over and started to eat another donut.

"Well that's settles it. Now come on carrots, we've got a criminal to track down." Nick and Judy left Clawhauser and Renn to their donuts, making their way to the precinct garage. "That kid is going to give Clawhauser a run for his money when it comes down to eating those donuts." Nick said when they were out of earshot. "I wouldn't be surprised to get back and find the two having an eating contest."

Judy laughed, her somber mood somewhat uplifted by the idea of Clawhauser and Renn having a donut eating contest. "Hahaha… Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised by that either. Now come on, let's get to Sahara Central."

Savana Central Warehouse District

Nick and Judy got out of the police cruiser and approached the crime scene. Showing their badges to the officer guarding the crime scene from the public, the two ducked under the police tape and went inside the warehouse. Inside, they found one part of the warehouse floor that was covered in blood, obviously where the victims were found.

"Ok Nick, let's see what we can find here." Judy said, putting on some gloves.

"Yeesh, talk about a bloodbath." Nick said after a few minutes of searching. "I haven't found anything over here, how about you carrots?"

"No, nothing yet. Ugh, this whole thing just makes be so angry! How could anyone just butcher all those mammals like that?"

"I don't know. That's why we are here, to figure this whole mess out."

"Yeah, I just hope we….hey, I think I found something!" Judy quickly pulled out a pair of tweezers and plucked something out of one of the pools of blood. She quickly put in into an evidence bag as Nick hurried over to her.

"What did you find?" Nick said. Judy held out the bag to her partner. Inside was a few long strands of black and orange fur. "Are you sure these aren't from the victims Judy?"

"No, these can't be from any of them. None of the victims had black fur, and these orange strands are too long to be from the red panda or fox. These look like they are from some kind of feline."

"A feline? Well, if these are from the killer, then he or she would probably be a bigger feline like a tiger. The claw and teeth marks on the victims are too small to come from a lynx or bobcat. That would also explain why there is black and orange fur."

"Good work Nick. So we know, or at least think, that the killer was a tiger. That's a good start!" Judy smiled at her partner, getting fired up by their discovery. "Come on Nick, help me search this area some more! Maybe we can find something else to help us catch this guy!"

"Whatever you say, carrots."

Despite their intensive search, Judy and Nick did not manage to find any more clues to the identity or location of the killer. Undeterred by this, the two officers left the crime scene and got in their cruiser to make their way back to the precinct, sure that the coroner would be able to give the details on at least one of the victims by this point. They had no idea that a shadowy figure had been watching the warehouse, and that the two of them had just put themselves into much more danger than they had ever been in before.

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 **Ok, so maybe not so much real action than some plot, but it's something!**

 **Oh, and to as for Judy being able to guess what kind of mammal the fur came from, I based that off of her being able to identify what kind of fur was in the limo in the actual movie. If she can tell that a small clump of white fur in a limo that's parked in a tundra environment belongs to a polar bear and not an artic wolf or artic fox, then she should be able to tell at least what basic type of mammal a few strands of fur belong to when she doesn't know if the mammal is native to the habitat they are in.**

 **So just to let everyone know, you might as well get used to having some time between chapters. Because of everything I've been having to do, and because of the time I'm going to need to take to make sure I write chapters I actually like and are of good quality, I'm just not going to be able to post as quickly as I could before. Sorry, but that's just how it going to have to be.**

 **Please leave a review, any extra info I get may help speed up my writing. So share some ideas with me if you want, it may help. Oh, and please give me feedback on the change in structure. I need to know if it made the story more or less confusing, if you guys like it, or if I should go back to what I was doing before.**


	8. Chapter 7 Questioning the Dead

**Hey everybody! I'm not dead, but my computer decided to crash on me and I lost all my stuff, and I didn't get a new computer till recently. I'm so sorry about this taking so long! Hopefully this chapter will make up for how long it took. I do not own Zootopia, or any of its characters. I also only borrowed the name of the coroner from a TV show called NCIS, so any of you who have seen it will get the reference.**

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Sahara Square Morgue

"Hello there, you two must be officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. Good to meet you, though a shame it had to be under these circumstances. I am Dr. Mallard, but everyone just calls me Ducky." The short hyena said as Nick and Judy entered the autopsy/cold storage room of the morgue. Dr. Mallard was standing next to a metal table, upon which was the dead body of one of the victims, mostly covered by a white sheet. Only the head was visible, but that was enough to tell that the victim was the wolf.

"Good to meet you Ducky. What can you tell us about the victim?" Judy said, getting straight to the point.

Ducky pulled back the sheet to the wolf's waist. "Well, our victim was identified as an artic wolf by the name of Ryan Fang by his dental records. Initial autopsy revealed the obvious that the cause of death was loss of blood and asphyxiation due to his throat being torn out. The poor fellow was literally choking on his own blood." Judy grimaced and looked away from the body, obviously uncomfortable.

Noting Judy's discomfort, Nick quickly changed the subject. "Ok, anything else you can tell us? Any clues to who might have done this?"

Ducky pulled the sheet back up to the body's neck. "Well, I haven't found anything that would identify a culprit yet, but I did notice something odd." Ducky reached over and opened one of the victim's eyes. "Now, see how the pupil is extremely dilated and large? Normally when someone dies their eyes will dilate, then constrict to a more normal size after rigor mortis. However, Mr. Fang's pupils seem to be as dilated as possible. While Mr. Fang could have enlarged pupils due to the fear he must have felt at his death, they should not stay this large. Also, I noted a yellowish tinge surrounding his iris, as well as in his lips. I'm not sure what this means yet, but I have sent a sample of his blood to our forensic analysist and should be able to give you more information after she has gotten a look at it.

"Huh, well thanks for letting us know. I guess we will have to come back later then. Please give us a call as soon as you find anything else out." Nick said as he gave Ducky their contact information. "Come on Judy, we better get back to the precinct."

"Thanks for your help Ducky, we appreciate it!" Judy said as she followed Nick out the door.

"Your welcome Ms. Hopps!" Ducky called after them. Then under his breath Ducky chuckled and mumbled, "What an interesting couple…"

Precinct 1, a little while later

As Nick and Judy walked up the steps to the entrance of the precinct, Judy realized something very important. "Nick, I forgot that we left Renn with Clawhauser all day!"

Nick smirked and kept walking. "I don't think you have to worry about him."

"But we're the ones in charge of him, and I didn't even think to check in on them over the radio or anything! Oh, I hope he's ok…" Judy said as they walked into the precinct. However, what she saw quickly put her worried mind at ease. There at the front desk was Clawhauser eating more donuts. Sitting next to him with his face covered in icing and sprinkles, was Renn, who seemed to be in a sugar and food coma from what must have been the huge number of donuts that he had eaten.

Nick's smirk got even wider as he gave Judy an 'I told you so' look. "Well, it looks like you took pretty good care of Renn for us Clawhauser. How many donuts did you give him, fifty?"

"No, just twenty…" Clawhauser said, looking a little embarrassed. "But he's been pretty well behaved."

"Well no wonder, the kid has had to scrounge for food for a while before he met us, I doubt that he has had a lot of sugar before. After having that many donuts, he probably got knocked out by the sugar rush." Nick said. "Well, it doesn't matter too much. I'll just carry him home." Nick walked over and lifted Renn into his arms. Renn shifted slightly until he was comfortable, never actually waking up.

Judy smiled at the sight of Nick having to carry Renn, looking a lot like a father taking carrying his child. "Well, let's get going then. We might as well get him back home to his bed before he wakes up."

"Whatever you say carrots, you're the boss." Nick said, following her out the front door.

As the two of them began their trek back to Nick's place, neither of them noticed the shadowy figure from the warehouse watching them and taking pictures from a grey, nondescript van. The figure pulled out a radio and spoke into it. "I'm on them boss. Do you want me to take care of them now?"

From the radio came a reply from a deep and smooth voice. "No, just keep watching them for now. I want to make sure that this town will come to fear and obey me. I cannot think of any better way to begin that than to make an example of the ZPD. And when I do, I want to make sure that everything is exactly how I envision it, and that the citizens will taste fear like they never have before…"

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 **I know that this chapter is short, but I felt that I had to get one out after the huge wait. I am extremely sorry that this happened, and I will do my best to prevent another month long wait! I also apologize for any mistakes such as bad grammar and incorrect spelling, or if the quality of this chapter seems a little less than average or things contradict each other. I rushed to try and get this up for you guys and girls, so it's probably not my best work.**

 **Please leave a review, maybe tell me what you would like to see next or what you did or didn't like about this. But do try to give details if you tell me what you didn't like. I don't mean give a huge rude rant, but instead just tell me why you didn't like it as calmly and clearly as possible so I have a good idea of what to avoid. And please let me know if there are any mistakes and direct me to them, so I can correct them.**


	9. Chapter 8 A Simple Start

**Hello viewers, or more accurately, readers. Glad you decided to continue reading. I apologize for the extremely long wait. I know that I said I wouldn't make you wait so long last time, but college happened and my original plans went out the window. I will discuss what the future schedule of the fic will be in the afterword, but for now here is the next chapter. This chapter had to be done over a very long time period with many breaks in between due to class work and midterms, so please be forgiving with its mistakes. I hope you enjoy it!**

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The walk home for the two officers was uneventful, with Nick and Judy quietly discussing the day's events and trading jokes while Renn slept peacefully in Nick's arms. Once they arrived at Nick's place, Nick tucked Renn into bed while Judy took a shower, then took a shower of his own once the bunny had finished.

A few minutes later Nick stepped out of the bathroom and realized that Judy wasn't in his bed. Walking out of his room, Nick peeked into the guest room to a sight that brought a soft smile to his face. Curled up next to Renn was Judy, her arms wrapped around him protectively.

"My kid and my bunny."Nick whispered, shocking himself when he realized what he had just said. Shaking his head slightly, Nick pulled the door close and laid down on the couch. _"Since when have either of them been mine? Renn isn't my kid, I've only known him for a couple of days. And Judy is certainly not my bunny, no matter how much I want that to be…"_ Nick let his thoughts wander for a while, swirling around in his mind before he drifted off to sleep.

The following morning was normal, everyone waking up on time to get ready for the day ahead. Nick got some microwave carrots ready for a quick breakfast while Judy got dressed, and Renn walked out of the guest room looking the same as always in his oversized jacket. By the time Judy finished changing, Nick had pulled the carrots out of the microwave and given some to Renn, watching him chew on them with gusto. Judy gave Nick a smile and a quick thank you before grabbing a couple of the carrots for herself. Looking at the two of them munch away happily on their carrots, Nick smiled slyly and started eating the last of the carrots. Once the three of them were finished eating, they headed out the door for the precinct.

It was when Nick, Judy, and Renn were halfway to the precinct that Judy was stuck with the feeling that they were being watched. Looking around, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but still couldn't shake the feeling.

"Something wrong carrots?" Nick said, noticing her looking around.

"It's nothing." Judy replied, looking over her shoulder. "I just had the feeling that we were being followed."

"Huh, that's weird. It's probably just your imagination carrots. You're letting the case get to you." Nick said.

"Yeah, you're probably right. This case is just putting me a little on edge." Judy seemed to relax a little at that, attributing the uneasy feeling to the unusual case. "Come on then, let's get to the precinct so we can crack this case!" Judy raced ahead, soon followed by Nick and Renn.

"Hold up Judy, we can't all run like rabbits!" Nick yelled, laughing as he and Renn struggled to keep up.

Eventually, after Judy had stopped for Nick and Renn so they could finally catch up to her, the trio made it to the precinct.

"Morning Clawhauser!" Judy said, bursting with energy after the quick run.

"Morning guys! Chief wants to see you again today; I think he has some more info about your case for you." Clawhauser said. "If you want, you can leave Renn with me again! It's fun to have a buddy here with me at the desk!"

"Sure, sounds like a good idea. That ok with you?" Nick said to Renn, already knowing the answer based on how he was looking at the donuts on the front desk.

Renn nodded and let a small smile show. "Ohmygosh, he's smiling! It's so cute!" squealed Clawhauser giddily, causing Renn to blush slightly and sending Clawhauser into even more squealing.

"Great. See you in a little while Renn." Nick said as he and Judy starting making their way to Bogo's office. Neither her nor Judy could stop themselves from smiling and chucking a little bit as they saw Renn and Clawhauser start to dig into the donuts.

Once the two officers had reached the chief's office, they leaned inside as Bogo finished a call. "You wanted to see us Chief?" Nick said.

Setting the phone down, Bogo nodded. "Come in you two." He said gruffly.

Walking in and shutting the door behind them, the two sat down in the chairs in front of the chief's desk, simply so they could be close to eye level with the large water buffalo.

"Clawhauser mentioned that you might have some more info about our case, Chief Bogo?" Judy asked, straight to the point.

"I suppose you could say that, though with the information I have I honestly hope this doesn't have anything to do with your current case." Bogo said with a sigh.

"Why?" Both Nick and Judy asked, obviously confused.

"Because," Bogo said in a tone that made the two officers feel that they were not going to like what they were going to hear, "there has been another murder."

At the same time in another place

A very large man picks up his cell phone and autodials a number, facing his window to look down on Zootopia. When the person picks up, he waits as they begin to speak.

"Sir." The person says. The person has a respectful tone, the kind of respect that you give when you are facing or speaking to someone who is very dangerous, powerful, ruthless, and perfectly fine with breaking the bones of both you and your family for fun. When the person is answered with silence, he continues. "Both Officer Nick and Officer Judy are in the ZPD Precinct 1 building. Neither of them have seen me, but I think that the bunny is starting to suspect something."

"Even if the bunny suspects something, she will most likely just brush it off." the man replied with his deep, smooth voice. "Anything else?"

"Well sir, they seem to have some weird, hairless kid with them. I have no idea what it is, and it kind of gives me the creeps." The person replies.

The man thought this over for a moment before replying. "Interesting. You can give me a more detailed report when you get back. For now, though, I have something else I want you to do."

"Sir?" The person asked, a hint of dark hope in their voice.

"I think it's time to begin spreading the seeds of fear and discord in Zootopia…" the man says, continuing in a lower voice.

As the person is given his instructions, he begins to giggle, then fully laugh with a malicious glee as the large man finishes. "Oh yes sir! I can do that! I'm going to enjoy it too!" He says viciously.

"Good, be sure to." The large man smoothly replies. "There is no point in causing fear and pain if you don't enjoy yourself doing it. So be sure to have plenty of fun, and leave a clear message for our dear officers."

As the man listens to his underling laugh with a maniac glee, he hangs up. Then he lets the deep chuckle out from his chest as he watches the people of Zootopia as a king would watch his slaves.

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 **Well, I'm glad you guys are willing enough to stick with this fic. I truly appreciate it. Now as many of you know, school is going on right now. For me this means college, which has taken up a major part of my daily life. Because of this, updates for the fanfic are going to be hectic. I know that it sounds bad, but I might have to put a hold on future chapters. Hopefully it won't come to that, but please don't hate me if it comes to it.**

 **As always, please leave a review and tell me what you thought about the chapter. What you liked, what you didn't like, I appreciate every comment I get and do my best to reply to what you say to get an in-depth view of your opinion.**


	10. Chapter 9 A Nightmarish End

**Hey everyone, I'm back with a new chapter! I've been doing my best to try and work on this when I had the free time, and wasn't bogged down with tests and studying. Hopefully you enjoy it. Zootopia and all of its characters belong to Disney, not me. I do not own Zootopia or its characters, only the original characters I have created for the purpose of this fanfiction. And anyone who says otherwise is a jerk for trying to get me sued. Oh, and a certain character introduced in here is another reference to NCIS. Those of you who watch the show will know who he is, and I do not own the character I based him off of.**

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Rainforest District, 11 a.m.

Nick and Judy pulled up to the crime scene, a large house in the lower part of the Rainforest District. A few other police officers were already there, taking statements from a few people and keeping them away from the crime scene. One of the police officers noticed Nick and Judy's arrival and walked up to meet them.

"Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde. What brings you two here? I thought you were on that murder case in Savana Central." The rhino said.

"Hey McHorn. Chief told us that we should check this out, thinks it might be related to our case." Nick said, calm and collected as ever.

"Well I hope not," Officer McHorn said, "the last thing we need is a mass murderer. You guys head inside."

Nick and Judy slipped under the tape as McHorn walked towards some pedestrians that were getting a little too close to the crime scene. As the two walked up to the front door, they could see signs of forced entry, mainly in the form of a shattered door frame. Walking inside, the scene was not much better. Officers moved about, checking for evidence and taking photos of the crime scene. Blood covered much of the room, a sign of the brutality that occurred. Two body bags were already being loaded up onto stretchers, one huge compared to the other, while a familiar face knelt next to two more.

"Hey Ducky. Didn't expect to see you here." Judy said, watching him zip one of the body bags up over the victim's face before turning to them.

"Good morning Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde. I could say the same about the two of you. I assume that Chief Bogo sent you to see if this had anything to do with the previous murders?" Ducky said.

"Yep." Nick said as a wiry looking lynx walked up to them.

"Ah yes, this is my assistant, James Palmer. Mr. Palmer, this is Officers Hopps and Wilde." Ducky said.

"Hello. Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot of good things about you on the news." Palmer said with a hint of excitement as he shook their hands.

"I'm sure you have Mr. Palmer. Now, would you mind helping get these to the van?" Ducky said with a little exasperation.

"O-oh! Yes sir, Doctor Mallard." Palmer said, zipping up the last body bag before helping a police officer to lift it onto a stretcher and wheeling it out the door.

Ducky shook his head with an exasperated chuckle before turning back to Nick and Judy. "Now, how can I help you two?" He asked.

"Well what can you tell us about the victims?" Nick asked.

"Based on preliminary observation, it seems that these people were killed in the same violent fashion as your own murder victims." Ducky said. "Multiple abrasions, claw marks, and teeth marks. And two of them had their throats torn out, which is extremely disturbing considering one of the victims."

"Why would one victim having his throat torn out be more disturbing than the rest?" Nick said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice at the idea.

"Because Officer Wilde, the victim in question was the owner of the house, an African Elephant by the name of George Trunks." Ducky replied.

Judy went pale and Nick's ears went flat as they realized the seriousness of the fact. "You mean that whoever did this tore out an elephant's throat?" He asked, the previous sarcasm completely gone from his voice.

"Most likely, yes." Ducky answered.

"Sweet cheese and crackers." Judy whispered, horrified at the thought that someone could be strong enough and brutal enough to accomplish such a feat. After a moment, she asked, "What else can you tell us?"

"Well I don't really know much else for certain, all I can say is that whoever did this does not seem to have a real pattern other than the brutal mauling. Besides the elephant, we also have a dead lynx, sloth, and tiger." Ducky replied.

Recovering his composure, Nick slipped back into his calm and casual appearance. "Well, thanks for the information Ducky. You have anything else?"

"Unfortunately not Officer Wilde. I should hopefully be able to give you some more information after I get them on the table back at the morgue." Ducky replied.

"Well, thanks for what you've been able to tell us." Judy said.

"My pleasure Officer Hopps." Ducky said as the two officers started to look around the room.

The following hours proved to be mostly fruitless for Nick and Judy. The search of the room did not turn up anything that proved useful to the case. Talking to one of the officers on-site revealed that a friend of the elephant had discovered the bodies after arriving at the house and finding the door smashed open. However, after finding the friend sitting next to one of the patrol cars, a talking to him revealed that he had not seen anything initially that the police crew had not found. Speaking to some neighbors that had come to the crime scene revealed that none of them had heard any sounds of distress. Instead, Nick and Judy learned that the houses in the area were spaced farther away from each other for privacy. After many hours of pointless searching and questioning, the two made their way back to the precinct.

The two walked in to find Renn once again asleep from the sheer mass of sugar he had consumed. Nick had to carry him again on their walk back to Nick's place. Once they had arrived there, however, Judy surprised Nick.

"Nick, I'm going to head back to my place." Judy said, grabbing her suitcase.

Nick got a surprised look on his face as she said this. "How come, carrots?" He asked.

"Well I've been staying here for a couple of days now, and I don't want to wear out me welcome." She replied.

"I don't mind, Judy. You know I'm fine with you staying here." Nick said quickly.

"No, it's fine Nick. Besides, I should get back to my apartment." Judy said with a smile.

"Well… ok then. Be sure to call if you need anything." Nick said reluctantly.

"I'll be fine!" Said Judy with a laugh. "It's not like I haven't lived there before!"

"Yeah, guess I just got used to you staying here. "See you tomorrow then." He said with a smile.

"See ya tomorrow!" Judy said, leaving the apartment.

Grand Pangolin Arms, 7 p.m.

Judy walked up to her apartment, tired after the day of searching and questioning. When she got to her door, however, she paused. Looking at the door, she could see that it was slightly ajar, and signs that it had been forced open. Slipping out a can of mace from one of the pouches around her waist, she slowly pushed the door open.

Nick's apartment

Nick was just about to take a shower when his phone started to ring. Smiling as he recognized the ringtone, he answered the call. "Hey carrots, did you forget something? Or did you miss me already?" He said slyly.

"N-nick..? I..I need help." Came her voice, shaken and frail.

"Judy? Judy, what's wrong?" Nick said, quickly becoming concerned.

"Nick, someone… someone broke into my apartment." She replied shakenly.

Nick was out the door before his phone hit the floor.

Grand Pangolin Arms, 7:05 p.m.

Nick raced down the hall towards Judy's apartment to find her sitting against the wall in front of her door.

"Judy! Are you ok?" Nick said quickly, grabbing her and checking to make sure she was ok. "Did you call the Chief?"

"Y-yeah. I'm ok. I called him." She said shakily.

"What happened?" Nick said, full of concern for Judy.

"I-I got back and…" Judy simply pointed to the door.

Looking from her to the door, Nick stood up and pushed it open. "What the hell…" He said, realizing why she was so freaked out.

Judy's apartment had been completely trashed. Though the room was small and didn't have much in it, nothing had been spared. What little furniture she had was smashed to pieces. Her pictures had been thrown to the ground and stepped on. The clothes she had left there were in shreds. Her bed was destroyed beyond repair. Looking inside the small bathroom showed that the mirror inside was shattered, and anything personal was destroyed. But worst of all was what was painted in large, blood-red, letters on her wall. "THOSE THAT GO TOO FAR DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE ARE LIABLE TO LOSE THEIR HEADS! OR MAYBE THEIR THROATS…"

Nick saw all of this, then turned to pull Judy into a tight hug. She started to sniff, the cry softly into his chest. "It's going to be ok Judy, it's going to be ok…" Nick said to her, holding her close.

Chief Bogo and another officer came down the hall, stopping when they saw Nick holding Judy as she cried. Nick simply glanced at them before looking back down at Judy.

Walking up to them, Bogo looked inside Judy's apartment, then looked back at the two of them with a concerned look.

Nick got up, carrying Judy is his arms with her head still buried in his chest. "I'm going to take her back to my place." He said quietly, looking at Bogo.

Bogo nodded. "Take care of her." He said with a subdued tone.

"With my life." Nick simply said, walking past the other officer to make his way home, whispering words of comfort to Judy as she cried herself to sleep.

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 **Surprise! Felt like pulling another twist, but I'm sure at least one of you saw this coming.**

 **Now some of you might have noticed a different detail, but for those of you who haven't I am going to point out that quite a few chapter's ago it was mentioned that Nick and Judy's apartment complexes are about 20 minutes away from each other. Now note the time stamps between when Judy got to her apartment, and when Nick got there. He wasn't kidding about getting there as fast as possible.**

 **Please leave a review for the story. Tell me what you liked, didn't like, any errors you might have found. Or tell me what you think should have happened, or ideas that you think would be good for the future. All replies help me to improve the story, so tell me what you thought!**


	11. Chapter 10 Nick's Promise

**Hello everyone! I'm glad you decided to continue reading. Here is another chapter for your enjoyment. I'm extra glad I managed to finish this chapter in time so I can say the following statement. Happy Thanksgiving!**

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Judy awoke suddenly, haunted by nightmares of shadowy figures chasing her with sharp claws and gnashing teeth. As she tried to calm her panicked breathing, Judy realized that she was lying on top of someone. As she turned her head to look behind her, she found herself looking up at a familiar fox.

"Morning carrots." Nick said softly.

"N-nick? What am I…." She started to say, only to stop as memories of the previous night came flooding back to her. Her expression shifted from confusion to something resembling what Nick had seen when her rushed to her the night before.

Nick quickly shifted his arms around her waist to pull her closer, doing his best to calm her. "It's going to be ok Judy."

"But…" She started, looking away with a note of panic creeping into her voice, "Someone broke into my apartment Nick! Whoever it was knew where I lived! What happens if-"

"Judy, look at me." He said, cutting Judy off. She slowly turned her head, finding herself looking straight into Nick's green eyes. "It doesn't matter what anyone does, because I am not going to let anything happen to you. I refuse to let anyone hurt you. I promise that I will protect you no matter what. Ok?"

"Y-yeah." Judy said, startled by how serious the normally casual Nick was. He continued to look at her before nodding and letting his muzzle curl up into a slight smile.

"Good. I can't be having my partner freak out on me, now can I?" He said playfully, the serious attitude gone and replaced by his usual self.

"Yeah, you're right." She replied, going along with Nick's obvious attempt to make her feel better. "I guess I'll just leave the freaking out to you."

"Why I never!" Nick said in mock surprise. "I am a fox, we never lose our cool."

"Haha, yeah right!" Judy said, letting the laugh out before yawning. "Yawwwwwnn… what time is it? How long was I sleeping?" She said, realizing how tired felt as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes.

"Well it's about ten o'clock, so I'd say you were asleep for around thirteen hours." Nick said.

"Thirteen hours?! Why didn't you wake me up? And where is Renn?" Judy said quickly, the idea of sleeping in so late shocking her.

"I haven't heard the door to his room open so I'm going to assume he's still sleeping off all the sugar he had yesterday." Nick replied.

"Ok, but that still doesn't explain why you let me sleep for 13 hours." Judy said.

"After what happened to you, I thought you deserved to sleep in. Besides, I couldn't bring myself to wake you up with the way you looked." Nick said nonchalantly.

"The way I looked? Wait a minute… How long were you watching me sleep? For that matter, how long did you sleep?" Judy said, noting bags under Nick's eyes and realizing just how tired he seemed.

"I didn't." Nick said shortly.

"What does-" Judy started to ask.

"I didn't sleep. I watched that door the whole night. I told you Judy, I am not going to let anyone get to you or hurt you." Nick said, cutting her off.

"You stayed up the entire night to keep watch?" Judy said, surprised at the fact.

"Yep." Nick replied.

Judy thought about just what that meant, how Nick had refused to sleep just to protect her. "Nick… Thank you." She finally said, hugging the fox.

Nick hugged her back gently. "You're welcome carrots. Now, how about we get some food? I don't know about you, but I'm starving." Nick said, smiling again.

Judy's stomach growled as if on cue. "Yeah, that sounds good to me." She said, pulling out of Nick's grasp and slipping out of the bed.

"Great. I cook us up some carrots. I know how much you love them." Nick said with a sly grin as he got out of bed.

Judy started to make a retort before thinking, then turning back towards the fox. "You know what, you're right! I do love them. So you better cook me a lot of them, or you'll be in serious trouble!" She said, giving Nick her own sly smile as she walked out of the room and leaving him to realize how he had just walked into making more work for himself.

Awhile later Nick and Judy sat at the table along with Renn, whom had been awoken by the smell of Nick cooking carrots. Both Nick and Judy could tell that he had realized that something had happened by how he kept glancing between the two officers. They didn't say anything about it, not wanting to worry him. As they were eating, Nick's phone began to ring, a loop of Chief Bogo bellowing that Nick had recorded after aggravating him even more than usual. Nick answered the phone quickly, the ringtone already letting him know it was the chief.

"Morning Chief…No sir…Yeah, she is..." Nick said as he spoke with the chief. He continued, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea…No I don't…I'm absolutely sure…I'll ask her." He paused and turned to Judy. "Do you want to give up the case to someone else?" He asked her with an expression that showed that he already knew what the answer was going to be.

"What?! No! I don't want to give up the case! It's obvious that whoever has been committing these murders was involved in what happened last night, there is no way I'm going to let that person scare me off this case!" She said vehemently.

Nick smiled and put the phone back up to his ear as he started to talk to Bogo again. "Well there's your answer…Yes sir…Got it…Ok then. Love you too, buh-bye!" He hung up quickly before Bogo could yell at him. "Haha! Never gets old." Nick said as he laughed.

Judy scowled at him before breaking down and laughing a little herself. "Hehe. You really shouldn't mess with him Nick. Especially right now." She said.

"Now I wouldn't be myself if I didn't mess with him a bit, now would I?" Nick said as his laugher started to subside. "Either way, I better tell you why he called."

"You mean besides to try to get me off the case?" Judy said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yep. Now per the boss's orders, he wants you to take today and tomorrow off on paid leave, to make sure you really are feeling ok. You'll be staying here with me. I, as your wonderful partner, am also getting paid leave to make sure you don't get lonely." He said with a smirk.

"Wait Nick, I don't have to stay here. I don't-" Judy started.

"Nope, you're staying here. Boss's orders. And besides, I wouldn't let you stay anywhere else anyways." Nick said, cutting her off.

"But…Fine." Judy said, giving in as she realized there was no point to fighting it.

"Great. Chief sent McHorn and Fangmeyer to stand guard, I guess they will be staying in the neighboring apartments for now." Nick said.

"Do you really think that's necessary?" Judy asked skeptically.

"Well if it's not, I can always ask Finnick to come over for extra protection." Nick said with a sarcastic grin.

Judy snickered at the idea of the small fennec fox acting like a bodyguard. "Really Nick?"

"Hey, don't make fun of him. He'll take out your shins." Nick replied, smiling sarcastically. "Either way, McHorn and Fangmeyer are still going to be pulling guard duty. After tomorrow, we can go in to get back on the case. For now, relax."

"Ok then, if you say so. But what about Renn?" Judy asked.

"Well, Bogo seems to think the best thing to do is to just keep him with us for now. He'll have us two to watch him, and even more guys at the precinct." Nick replied.

"Well...I guess that will work. Are you fine with that Renn?" Judy asked as she looked over at him. He nodded, looking more concerned than either Nick or Judy had realized. "Ok then. Renn will still stay with us. I just hope nothing happens…" Judy said, still a little uncomfortable with the idea. Renn pushed himself out of his chair before walking over to sit next to Judy. Hugging her, he proceeded to surprise both her and Nick.

"It…ok. Judy…safe." He said softly. He was obviously not used to talking at all, and he spoke slowly, as if he was picking his words carefully. "Judy… safe. I…protect…you. Nick…protect…you."

After a moment to process that Renn could actually speak, Nick quickly recovered. "You heard the kid. He'll protect you, and so will I. So don't worry." He said.

"Ok. I give in. I'll stop worrying." Judy finally said, still a little surprised that Renn would choose to break his silence in the way he did. Renn smiled, giving Judy another hug as if to prove that the matter was settled.

Nick smiled, happy that he had finally succeeded in winning over his partner. "Perfect. Now, since we have so much free time on our hands, want to watch a movie?"

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 **Tada! Felt like something like this needed to happen. Hopefully the ending didn't feel abrupt or awkward, I don't intend to make the next chapter about our heroes watching movies. Just thought it's something that Nick would totally say after a conversation like that.**

 **Please leave a review. I know that a lot of people teach us to keep a good majority of our opinions to ourselves, I know I was told that a lot at least. Well I'm asking you to do just the opposite. This is a chance to say what you really think. It doesn't matter if others say your opinion is "rude" or "insulting", or if they would say its "nice" or "polite". I am not about to get upset if you hated the this and decided to chew me out about it. I would use that to improve the story. I want to hear your opinions because I respect them. So tell me what you thought, what you liked, loved, hated, didn't care for. I honestly want to know. If you catch a mistake I made, tell me. I will do my best to edit and re-upload a fixed version of the chapter, it will help for the future, and I appreciate the effort of letting me know I made a mistake.**

 **I also have another reason for wanting you to review now. I'm considering taking a few of the people that review and giving them rolls in the story. It probably won't be a huge role, unless you decide to do some serious reviewing, but it's a role all the same. Don't be shy, tell me what you thought of the story so far and what you would like to be if you were in the story.**

 **Happy Thanksgiving everyone!**


	12. Chapter 11 Strains

**HELLO EVERYONE! I'm so sorry that I've made you all wait so long for this, I should have had this up long ago. It's time I explain myself. College over the past two years has been draining my focus, time, energy, and creativity. Up until now, I had lost the drive, time, and focus to work on it without quality going to rock bottom. But I am back for now, and have chosen Easter to be the revival day of this story, since it seemed rather appropriate. I cannot promise a set schedule, as I am still in college. But I do promise that I am not done with this work, and that I will be doing my best to give you a complete story. With that, please enjoy the chapter, I hope you'll forgive me for any shortcomings.**

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The next two days passed by relatively quietly. While somewhat boring compared to what Judy and Nick were used to, the forced break provided them time to connect to Renn. After he had broken his silence, he slowly let down his barriers for Nick and Judy. Playing board games with Renn helped to open him up, and after a while Nick and Judy were able to elicit quiet answers to simple questions about himself. Attempts to pry into his past were met with silence and uncomfortable looks, but small questions like his favorite color were more willingly answered. It was obvious that he had become more trusting towards Nick and Judy since they had first met.

However, it was obvious to both Nick and Renn that Judy was ready to get back on the case. She was tense at times, and it was easy to see that she was still thinking about the case. Nick was able to confirm this easily the morning after the second day.

"Nick! It's time to get up!" Judy yelled.

"Ugggh..." Nick moaned, opening his eyes tiredly. "Really carrots?" He said as he sat up and looked at his partner. "Are you really that ready to get back to work?" He asked sarcastically.

"What made you think that?" Judy said just as sarcastically, fully dressed in her uniform.

"Just a feeling." Nick said dryly. "Give me a little bit, I need a shower to wake myself up first if you want me to keep up with you."

Stepping out of his room a few minutes later, a fully dressed Nick saw Judy waiting impatiently by the front door with Renn, whom still seemed half asleep.

"Come on Nick!" Judy said as her foot started tapping impatiently.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Don't get your tail in a twist carrots. We haven't even had breakfast yet." Nick replied.

"We can pick something up on the way. Now come on!" Judy said, opening the front door and immediately falling on her butt as she ran into the large officer behind it. "Uff...Sorry." She said to the large rhino.

"No problem. You ok?" McHorn replied.

"Yeah, I'm good." Judy answered, taking Nick's offered hand and pulling herself up before grabbing Renn's hand. "Now, let's go!"

McHorn raised an eyebrow at Nick as Judy rushed off with the half asleep Renn. Nick gave him a shrug and a grin. "You know how it is, never a dull moment with her!" He said before running after her.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." McHorn said humoredly as he watched the normally relaxed Nick running at full speed after his partner. "Looks like she's doing good." He said as his partner Fangmeyer stepped out of the neighboring apartment.

"Yeah." Fangmeyer replied. "Let's just hope those two can keep that energy up once they find out everything that's happened."

ZPD Precinct 1

The precinct was almost completely empty. What few people that were there seemed tired and on edge. Even Clawhauser, usually a bubbly and happy individual, was much more subdued than before. "What happened?" Judy said as she, Nick, and Renn entered the main lobby. "Where is everyone?"

As the three of the approached the front desk, Clawhauser looked up from his apparent misery with a smile, though still not as chipper as usual. "Hey Judy! Hey Nick! I missed you two! Oh, and you too little guy. Are you feeling better Judy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. More importantly, what's going on here Clawhauser? Why is the precinct so…dead?" Judy inquired. Nick chimed in as well, though not quite as delicately. "And why do you look like someone stole the last donut?"

"Oh, you guys haven't heard?" Clawhauser replied. "I guess the Chief didn't want to worry you while you were recovering…."

"Worry us about what Clawhauser?" Judy asked, her brow furrowing slightly.

"Well…crime in the city has risen, a lot. Outbreaks of theft, muggings, and random property damage have been cropping up all over the city. Even worse, we've found five more murder victims like the ones from your case. We are stretched thin from trying to cover all these calls, and the murders." Clawhauser frowned slightly, sighing. "This is almost as bad as the nighthowler case…"

Judy and Nick gave each other a concerned look, surprised that things could have gotten so bad while they were gone. Judy turned back to Clawhauser. "Don't worry, you know that everyone can handle the strain. We'll get to the bottom of the murders, and everything will be back to normal before you know it." She set a box in front of the downtrodden cheetah. "Why don't you cheer up and enjoy these? Me and Nick picked up a box of donuts for you on our way here."

The cheetah smiled tiredly at Judy and the box, then slid it next to the desk phone. "Thanks guys. I'll get to them in a little while. You should head up to the Chief's office, he'll want to talk to you."

He turned away from them towards a rather large stack of what appeared to be civilian complaint forms, and the trio started towards Chief Bogo's office. "Man, I don't think I've ever seen Clawhauser so down that he wouldn't tear into a box of donuts. Things but be worse than he lets on…" Nick rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, doing his best not to show how disturbed he was by the situation.

"No kidding. We better get to Chief Bogo to get a better grasp on everything." Judy replied as they climbed the stairs. Getting to the second floor, she could hear some muffled yelling from Bogo's office before a rather angry female gazelle burst out the door, stamping past them.

As they reached the door, Bogo looked up tiredly from his desk at the three of them. "Ah. Good morning Officer Hopps, Wildes. Come in, please."

"What was that all about Chief?" Judy asked as they walked in and closed the door behind them.

"Haaaaa….it seems that the young gazelle's car was broken into last night, and she wanted to know why she did not immediately get assistance from the police. She was not exactly understanding when I said that we were stretched thin." He rubbed his temples then affixed his serious gaze on the pair of officers. "But that does not matter right now. What matters is getting the two of you up to speed. Sit down." He pointed to the chairs in front of his desk, in which the offices promptly climbed into.

"Yeah, that would help Chief. Clawhauser mentioned that there were more murders, and that crime has risen all over the city. What's going on?" Nick asked nonchalantly, calm and suave acting as ever.

"Well…there is no good way to put it. Zootopia is descending into chaos."

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 **I'm glad that you chose to continue reading this, despite the rather large time gap since my last posting. Please, please leave a review regarding what you thought about this chapter, questions, concerns, thoughts, ideas, suggestions, anything you'd like to say. Every comment, suggestion, and critique I get will help to improve how I write and improve the quality of the future of this story. I'm always interested to hear what you think about what's happened so far, or what you think should happen next or what would be cool in general. So please, leave a review. Every little bit helps.**


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